Features // People

Think of The Gambia and sun, sea and sand package holidays might spring to mind, but visitors are starting to explore beyond the beaches. Lynn Houghton tells us eight of the best ways to get off the beaten track. The tiny West African country of The Gambia is dissected by its namesake, the River Gambia.…

Do you love to take to the open road with nothing but a backpack and your best walking shoes? Or perhaps you’re more of an extreme-adventurer, seeking steep mountain slopes to climb and harsh climates to traverse? Hundreds of great explorers have travelled the world in pursuit of new lands and new discoveries, or to inspire others…

Tourists are visiting Thailand in increasing numbers, but some communities remain stuck in a time long passed. In pursuit of the “old Thailand”, Alex Robinson shuns the tour buses and takes local’s route, the train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. We’re waiting on the road, huddled together with locals who’ve risen in the pre-dawn dark.…

This year, one of Rough Guides’ roaming authors and photographers, Kiki Deere, returned to northern Italy for one of Europe’s most memorable festivals. Here, she shares 13 stunning pictures of the Venice Carnival. “Carnival has always played an important role in my life, having been brought up in northern Italy“, she says, ”but experiencing Carnival in Venice is different…

Last year our roaming photographer Diana Jarvis took some time away from her usual stomping grounds in Europe and headed to the far northeastern Indian state of Nagaland to witness the annual Hornbill Festival. Here, she shares 15 pictures of the region’s fascinating tribes. “I’d visited India on several other occasions but my trip to…

Our roaming author and photographer Anthon Jackson has travelled to over eighty countries, from journeying across Iran and Egypt to researching for Rough Guides in Indonesia and India. Here he shares some of his favourite images of Morocco, a country with “plenty of dreamy spots to wander around with a camera.” “On my first visit to Morocco it…

You may be well-travelled, but can you call yourself an explorer? From circumnavigating the world along its polar axis to trekking across the Australian outback, these famous explorers really know how to make the most of their time on earth. They’re brave, bold and fearless – the perfect inspiration for the trip of a lifetime.…

After setting out from his Wiltshire village in July 2010, Charlie Walker spent four-and-a-half years cycling across three continents. His route took him into the Arctic Circle, through the Himalayas and across the Sahara. Over 40,000 miles later – the equivalent of cycling twice around the world – Charlie recently arrived back in the UK.…